Casting machine



Aug. 4; 1931. 1.. c. GOADET AL CASTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 12, 1929 6 Sheets-Sheet l dummy 4 Aug. 4, 1931. L. c. GOAD ET AL 1,817,483

CASTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 12. 1929 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwoantots Aug. 4, 1931. L. c. GOAD ET AL 1,817,483

CASTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 12, 1929 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 /70 15 I H16 9 \w r 1 9 2 v fWfM K I 4 uw/ fl/ dual/M41 A.

Aug. 4, 1931.

\L. c. GOAD ET AL 1,817,483

CASTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 12, 1929 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Aug. 4, 1931. L. c. GOAD ET AL CASTING MACHINE Filed 001;. 12. 1929 e Sheets-Sheet e i in! mum-15$ ll'll" I M 1 125' 1 I z 1 Patented Aug. 4, 1931 UNITE-D STATES, PATENT OFFICE LOUIS C. GOAD ANI) FRANK D. WALSMITH, F MUNCIE, INDIANA, ASSIGNORS TO DELQO-REMY CORPORATION, OF MUNCIE, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF DELA- WARE ' CASTING MACHINE Application filed October 12, 1929. Serial No. 399,171.

This invention relates to machines for making castings in permanent molds and particularly for maklng castings from low melting point metal, such as lead.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a machine having a turn-table conveyor having passages through which a cooling medium may be circulated. In this connection a further object is to pro- 10 vide such a conveyor with detachable molds which may be removed from the conveyor with a minimum of labor and which when mounted upon the conveyor will be in good thermal contact there- 35 with in order that heat may be dissipated readily from the molds through the walls of the conveyor through the cooling medium circulating through the conveyor.'

Afurther object of the invention is to pro- 20 vide means for ejecting-the castings formed in the molds which are detachably supported by the conveyor. This object is accomplished by attaching to each mold its own ejecting mechanism, all of the ejecting mechanism, of the molds being operated upon by a common operating member such as an annularcam concentric with the conveyor.

A. further object is to provide automatic means for removing the castings from the conveyor after they have been ejected from the molds. In this connection, it is a further object of the invention automatically to sort the various kinds of castings which are molded by the machine and to cause them to be moved into their respective receptacles.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of one form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings: t

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the machine embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, a portion of the base frame being broken away to show the drive mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of an enlarged i cale taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side view of a part shown in Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrow 5 ofFig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 66 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a plan View partly in section of a portion of the conveyor, the section being taken on the line 77 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary, developed, sectional view taken on the circle 8 indicated by dot-and-dash lines in 7. I

Figs. 9 and 10 are fragmentary side elevations looking in the direction of arrows 9 and 10 in Fig. 3, these figures being drawn to a larger scale.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 6 the machine in cludes a base 20, supporting pedestals 21 which in turn support a platform 22. The base and platform 22 are circular in peripheral contour and cooperate with arcuate plates 23 attached by screws 24 to the pedestals 21 th provide a hollow cylindrical housing for the driving mechanism of the machine. This mechanism comprises a mo tor connected by coupling 31 with a shaft 32 which is journalled in suitable bearings provided by a gear housing 33 and which is connected with a worm -34 meshing with a worm gear 35 which is connected with a shaft 36 also journalled in bearings pro vided by the housing 33. The shaft 36 drives a gear 37 meshing with a gear 38 carried by shaft 39 which drives a gear 40 meshing with a gear 41, connected b *a. key 42 with a shaft-43 journalled in bearings 44 and 45 which is provided by a centrally located, cylindrical, hollow boss 46 integral with the platform 22. The shaft 43 is integral with a turntable conveyor frame 47, the weight of which is mainly supported by a ball thrust bearing 48, which comprises balls 49, an upper race 50 and a'lower race 51 Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, the conveyor frame 47 may be described as having a rim 52 which is connected with its hub or shaft 43 by three radial spokes 53 and by a web 54. The rim 52 provides three arcuate annular chambers 55 separated by approximately Z-shaped partitions 56. Water or and outlet pipes of any chamber are spaced apart an angular distance of 120. This arrangement provides that an inlet pipe 57 of one chamber is located beneath and in radial alignment with the outlet pipe 58 of an adjacent chamber 55. As seen in Fig. 8 the Z-shaped partitions 56 separate the inlet pipes 57 from the outlet pipes 58 which are located immediately above them. The pairs of pipes 57, 58 are used as inserts in the mold in which the turn table frame 4:7 is cast. The material surrounding the pipes 57 and 58 provides the spokes 53.

The platform 22 supports pedestals 60 and 61 upon which rest the ends of a cross bar 62 which supports a. central duct member 63 which extends through the hub 43 of the turn-table frame 47. The member 63 provides a water inlet passage 6 connected with a water inlet pipe 65 and at its upper end with a side branch passage 66 leading into an annular distributing chamber 67 located between the hub 43 and the member 63 and provided by an annular groove in the hub 63. T he chamber 67 communicates with the three inlet distributing pipes 57. The member 63 provides a central outlet passage 68 connected with a branch outlet passage 69 and with an outlet pipe 70. The branch passage 69 is connected with an annular chamber 71 provided by the hub d3 and communicating with all of the outlet pipes 58. Water flows into the annular chambers 55 of the turn-table frame 47 through pipes 65, passages 64, 66, and 67 and thence through the separate pipes 57 into the separate chambers 55 as indicated by arrows 57a in Fig. 8. The arrows 58a in Fig. 8 indicate that water flows out of the chambers 55 through the pipes 58. From the pipes 58 the water v passes into the annular passage 71 then out through the passages 69 and 68 and pipe 70. A nut 7 5 threaded upon the upper end of the member 63 engages the central tubular boss 76 of the cross frame 62 in order that the centralduct 63 may be supported by the cross frame.

v The turn-table frame provides an annular ledge 80 upon which rests a turn-table ring 81, the inner cylindrical surface of which very closely fits the contiguous cylindrical surface of the frame 17 This is nec- 1 essary in order that there may be good thermal contact between the frame 47 and the ring 81. The ring 81 provides an annular row of cavities which are oblong in contour and extend radially with respect to their longer dimension. Each cavity receives a mold block 82 providing a shoulder 83 which rests upon a similar ledge 84: provided by the ring 81. Each mold block 82 is secured into position by one or more screws 85. The side surface of the mold block 82 above the shoulder 83 fits very closely the contiguous side walls of the mold block cavity in the ring 81. This is necessary in order to secure good thermal contact between the mold block 82 and the ring 8]..

Each mold block 82 carries its own ejector mechanism which comprises a frame attached to the lower side of the mold block by screws Y91 and providing guides for the vertical sliding movement of a block J2 carrymg a cross rod 93, the ends of which support rollers 94 which, as shown at the right hand side of Fig. 6, are adapted to engage ejector cam plates or bars 05 provided by angle bars which have been bent into arcuate formation and which are attached to the platform 22 in such a manner that the bars 95 are concentric with the axis of the turn table. metal has solidified in the mold block 82, its ejector mechanism will be operated to eject the casting. This is accomplished while the rollers 94: are riding up the inclined surfaces 05a of the cam plates 95 as shown in Figs. 1 and 10. As the rollers 04 move upwardly the block 92 moves upwardly and causes an ejector rod 90 connected whercwith to move upwardly into the mold cavity of the block 82 in order to eject the casting. When the rollers 9d have moved away from the cam plates 95 a spring 97 will be released to cause the block 92 to move downwardly and ejector rod 96 to be retracted. Downward movement of the block 92 is limited by its striking a cross bar member 98 provided by the bracket 90.

The turn table rotates in a clockwise direction as viewed from above or as shown in lFigs. 1 and 3 or from right to left as viewed in Figs. 2. 9, and 10. Before a mold cavity is filled with molten metal the ejector rods 96 will have been moved into the positions shown in Fig. 9. The metal is melted in a furnace; not shown, and is conducted through a pipe 100, shown in Fig. 1 which is kept at a temperature above the freezing point of the metal by a stove 101 heated by a gas burner pipe 102.. The metal is permitted to pass through a flow regulating valve 103 into a nozzle 104 whence the metal flows into a ladle 105 which is provided with trunnions 106 pivotally supportedby brackets 107 attached to the cross frame 62-. The ladle 105 normally rests in an upright position as shown in Fig. 9. In order that it may be dumped automatically so that it may discharge its contents at the proper time into a mold cavity located immediately beneath it, one of the trunnions of the ladle carries an arm 108 located in the path of the pin 109 carried by a bracket 110 adjustably attached to the outer side of the conveyor ring 81 by screw 111. The ladle is provided with an anti-splash-apron 112 spaced from the metal containing vessel 113 After the l chambers 55, of the-turn table is permittedto flow. past a valve 121 and through pipe 122, elbow 123 and pipe 124, whence it flows-directly upon the cakes of metal 120 in order to hasten the cooling of the castings. The excess metal represented by the cakes 120 is removed by a scraper blade 125 which is adjustably supported on a bracket 126 attached by screws 127 to the'cross frame member 62. The excess metal which is being removed is indicated by the .peeling 128 in Fig. v1O. These peelings are automatically removed from the conveyor due to the shape of the scraper blade 125 and fall into a suitable conveyor (not shown) which conveys them to the melting furnace. In order that the water discharged from the pipe 124 from the conveyor will not flow past the blade 125, the water is blown away from the blade 125 by jets of air issuing from a pipe 129 connected with a source of compressed air.

After the castings have solidified and the excess metal has been removed, as each mold block moves past the left of the cross frame 62 as viewed in Fig. 1, the casting ejector rollers 94 begin to ride up along the inclined surfaces 95a of the cam plates 95. By the time that a mold block 82 has moved into theposition 820; in Fig. 1, a casting C will have been completely elevated above the mold and position to be ejected automatically from the table by being impinged upon by a jet of air I issuing from one of a plurality of pipes 141 142, 143, 144, and 145 which extend radially from an air manifold 146 connected with, a source of compressed air by a pipe 147. The manifold 146 is attached to a bracket 148 by screws 149, and the bracket 148 tothe cross frame member 62 by screws 150. The pipes 141, 142, 143, 144 and 145, are placed in communication with the manifold 146 respectively by valves 151, 152, 153, 154 and 155 which are open automatically at the proper time in the movement of the conveyor. Referring'to Fig. 3 it will be seen that the machine has been arranged to'mold five kinds of different castings and that the molds of each kind are arranged in pairs A1, A2, A3,- A4, A5. The

castings which are formed in the pairs of molds A1 to A5 respectively, are automatically caused to move from the turn table into chutes 161, 162, 163, 164, and 165. This is accomplished by attaching to the turn-table frame 47 a plurality of radially extending holes 167 arranged in a radial row. Any one of the holes 167 may receive the threaded end 168 of a screw 169, the head of which is provided with a beveled camming surface 170 adapted to engage a button 171 attached to the lower end of a stem 172 of some one of the series of valves 151 to 155. Itwill be noted that these valves are located on centers corresponding in distances, respectively, from the axis of rotation from the turn-table, with the distances from the. axis of the turn-table to blocks 166, each having a series of threaded the various holes 167. It is therefore appar- H ent that by properly locating the screws 169 upon blocks 166 the various valves of the series 151 to 155 can be made to operate selectively. For example if it is desired that the castings ejected from the pair of molds A5 shall be automatically moved from the' turn table into the chutes 165, then the screws 169 for operating the valve 155' which connects 'pipe 145 the valve 155 will automatically open to cause a jet of air impinged upon the castings from molds A5 successively in order to blow thesecastings into the chute 165. In a similar manner the castings from molds A4 will be blown automatically into the chute 164, and the castings from molds A3 will be blown automatically by air from the pipe 143 into the chute 163; etc.

It is immaterial whether the mold cavities be arranged in pairs or whether any mold be alike or different from the one immediately adjacent to it. Obviously if the mold cavities are not arranged. in pairs according to kind, but are different, then the various screws 169 may be arranged as shown in Fig. 1. a

In order to brace the turn-table at a portion thereof adjacent the scraper blade 125, there is provided a bracket 180 attached by screws 181 to the platform 22 and supporting a roller 182 upon which the lower surface of the turn table ring 81 may rest. ture is desirable in order that the blade 125 may operate uniformly in removing the excess metal. v

While the form of embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A casting machine comprising, in com- This feabination, a turn-table conveyor, blocks having mold cavities detachably supported by the conveyor, the walls of the blocks being in good thermal contact with the walls of the conveyor, and means for circulating a cool ing medium through the conveyor in close proximity to said blocks.

2. A casting machine comprising, in combination, a turn-table conveyor having a central hollow hub, a rim provided with separate annular chambers, and ducts leading from this hub to the rim for conducting a cooling fluid to and from the chambers, and mold blocks attached to the conveyor and having their walls in good thermal connection with the walls of the chambers.

3. A castin'g machine comprising, incombination, a turntable conveyor having annular chambers for rcceivinga cooling medium, means for circulating a cooling medium to and frgim said chambers, a'ring supported by the conveyor at its periphery and having a wall in good thermal contact with walls of the chambers, and separate mold blocks received by recesses in the ring and having their walls in good thermal-con; act with the ring. R j

4. A casting machine comprising, in combination, a turn-table conveyor, blocks having mold cavities detachably secured to the conveyor, a casting ejector pin slidably sup portedby each block and removable with block from the conveyor, and a stationary arcuate canrconcentric with the conveyor for operating the rods. c

A casting machine comprising, in com.- bination, a turn-table conveyor provided with a plurality of mold cavities for making castings of different form, means for selectively ejecting the castings from the cavities and means for removing the castings from the conveyor.

6. A casting machine comprising, in combination, a turn-table conveyor provided with mold cavities, means for ejecting the from the cavities, a plurality of receptacles each for a' certain casting,.a plurality of air nozzles each located above the table and adjacent the entrance to one of the receptacles, valves located at different distances from the axis of the table respectively for controlling the admission of air to the nozzles, and de-l vices for operating the valves each adapted to be attached to the conveyor adjacenta mold block, said devices being located at distances from the conveyor axis corresponding respectively to the distances from the conveyor axls to the respective valves which the devices are to operate.

10. A casting machine comprising in com- 'bination, a turn table conveyor provided with a plurality of mold cavities of different form for making castings of difi-erent shapes, a plurality, of receptacles each of which is adapted to receive castings of one particular type, and means for selectively ejecting the castings from the mold cavities, whereby,

castings of only one specific type are delivered into any one receptacle.

In testimony whereof we hereto afiix our signatures.

' LOUIS G. GOAD.

FRANK D. WALSMITH.

castings from the cavities, a plurality of chutes each for a certain casting, and means for selectivelyremoving the castings from the conveyor and for causing them to move into their respective chutes.

7. A casting machine comprising, in combination, a turn-table conveyor provided with mold cavities, means for ejecting the castings from the cavities, a plurality of receptacles each for a certain casting, and means for selectively causing the various castings to move from the conveyor into their proper chutes.

8. A casting machine comprising, in combination, a turn-table conveyor provided with mold cavities, means for ejecting the castings I from the cavities, a plurality of receptacles each for a certain casting, a plurality of air nozzles each located above the table and adjacent the entrance to one of the receptacles, valves located at difi'erent distances from the 

